Stree: What is Nale Ba, the real urban legend behind the witch in Stree?

Who is the witch in Stree and why does she seem familiar?

Eighteen seconds into Stree’s trailer, it warns ‘Based on a ridiculously true phenomenon’. This comes just moments after an unknown entity is seen stalking a man, right after he turns around and screams. But if you think that this is just a marketing stunt for Stree, the upcoming Rajkummar Rao-Shraddha Kapoor starrer, you couldn’t have been more wrong. The horror/drama seems to be based on a real urban legend that enveloped Bangalore in an icy blanket of fear in the ’90s. If you’re looking for clues on what it is, just read the writing on the wall (in the trailer) and you’ll know that we’re talking about Nale Ba.

Nale Ba, the real story behind Stree

Though ’Nale Ba’ means ‘come tomorrow’ in Kannada, it has become synonymous with the tale of a witch that terrorised the streets of Bangalore in the ’90s, long before the city became India’s Silicon Valley. According to the massively popular urban legend, the witch would prey on men after dark, knocking on doors at night to lure them out of their homes. She would often call out by imitating the voice of a woman the victim loves — his mother, his wife, his sister — asking him to open the door. It is believed that any man who heeded her request would be found dead within a day. The only way to get rid of her was to call out from inside one’s home, “Nale ba” or ‘come tomorrow’. The man was then safe for the night until she came back the next day.

The modern myth gained such popularity that homes started having ‘nale ba’ written on their walls and doors — you’ll still find some of those markings in parts of Bangalore to this day. In fact, in certain places, April 1 is observed as Nale Ba day.

How the Nale Ba witch’s story was made in Bollywood’s Stree

Though Stree appears as deliciously mainstream Bollywood as a horror comedy can get, the origins of the real story behind Stree are based in Kannada urban folklore. However, the makers have adapted the Bengaluru legend and interpreted it a tad differently. The film is set in Madhya Pradesh’s Chanderi — a town that borders woodland and is home to several historically significant monuments — and with the change in setting come some changes in the story.

The most notable of which, so far, has been the witch’s backstory. Even though the origins of Nale Ba aren’t known, Pankaj Tripathi’s character in Stree is heard narrating the tale of the witch: once the most beautiful woman in the land, she was a courtesan whom every man desired. She finally found the one who loved her not for her looks but her soul. Though its not clear, something happened that lead her to turn into the witch that the characters in the film know her as.

If that piece of backstory sounds familiar, it’s probably because you’ve heard it as a child. Speaking to Quint, Stree’s director, Amar Kaushik, was quoted as saying that though the film derives inspiration from Bangalore’s Nale Ba legend, it is a mashup of several similar myths from across the country.